


Loneliness Abated

by Merfilly



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Rare Pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-09
Updated: 2016-07-09
Packaged: 2018-07-22 11:13:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7434977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a resurgence of Star Sapphire, Carol Ferris meets and learns more about J'onn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Loneliness Abated

**Author's Note:**

> This grew out of a request via email, and I was very intrigued to see if I could make it work for myself. Because, well, I love the Big Green Guy and Carol deserves a good relationship that Hal can't wreck.
> 
> As far as continuity goes, let's just stick it in a Pocket Universe (remember those?) and call it good.

Star Sapphire attempted to catch Green Lantern off-guard with a sneak attack… and found her wrist in the hand of a strong alien, all angles and green and just daring her to turn on him by existing with such primal masculinity.

"You are not yourself."

* * *

Carol Ferris woke to the concerned visage of a man she did not know. He gave her an encouraging smile before speaking.

"I'm John Jones, a friend of Hal's. He couldn't be here, something about testing a plane or you'd have his hide," the man said, his voice a little like Humphrey Bogart crossed with William Powell. Dimly, Carol recalled what she had been doing, and she drew in a deep breath of worry. A glint of red on black in the eyes on her, as well as that kind smile, told her this was one of Hal's _good_ friends.

"Should I be apologizing, Mister Jones?"

"I do not think so, as you really weren't yourself," he answered her, confirming which of those friends this man was, if her memory was coming back correctly.

At least she did know she had slipped into that mind, this time.

"I'll be fine, if you wish to go. And I'm glad Hal remembered."

John produced a card, setting it on the bedside table. "If you should wish to talk about your experiences, my number." He picked up his hat, something out of a pulp noir movie to go with the coat he wore. "Sometimes, the one you are closest to about these things is not the correct one to reach for, when it comes to understanding it."

* * *

"Hal, what do you think of your friend John?"

"Which one?" Hal asked, half-smiling.

"Fair question," Carol said, before sipping her wine as they shared a dinner out to celebrate the new plane passing test flight. "The one that looks like he walked out of 1940s Hollywood."

Hal laughed, spearing his next bite of the beef tips he'd ordered. "That's John, alright. Great guy. Solid backbone to my club, you might say. He's just… not from around here."

Carol's eyes sparkled at that. "That just makes me more curious."

* * *

"Do you ever feel too alone to make yourself get up and go? That's how I would feel sometimes, even knowing I had to be there, had to push the company along. And they… they made me feel less alone."

There was a long pause on the line, before John's steady voice answered. "Loneliness is my constant friend, even among the peers I find in my life."

Carol's heart fluttered, hearing true emotion, a vulnerability, in those measured words that Hal had never given her.

"You are unlike any I know," she said softly.

"I am truly unique," he agreed, and it was neither arrogance nor humor in the words, but despair of a quiet resignation.

"How do you stand the loneliness?" Carol asked him.

"By giving myself to those who are lonely too."

* * *

"Yes, excuse me… I'm looking for Detective Jones?"

Diane Meade raised an arm at seeing the smartly dressed woman, but if it meant a potential client, she wasn't going to say no. "He's in the file room. Give me a moment to go get him."

She stepped out, down a narrow hall in this aging house they'd converted to be the offices of their detective agency. The woman watched her go, then looked around, seeing a few news clippings touting the experience and success rate of the agency. She felt a good vibe about the fact the sign on the door had read 'Meade&Jones', that there were more clippings showing Meade getting accolades than Jones. The picture that arrested her attention though was the one showing both retiring from the Middleton Police Department. The photographer had captured them side by side, and every line of the black and white photo screamed equality.

The whispers of Star Sapphire wanted to call it a lie, but Carol Ferris was certain it was the truth.

"Ms. Ferris, this is a surprise," John said, stepping into the atrium with her. She turned to take in the sight of him wearing casual slacks, a turtleneck with a pullover sweater against the chill. She felt a tingle, as well as a moment of second guessing her choice.

"Nice thing about owning a jet company; I generally can get a flight when I want to be somewhere." Her eyes met his, ignoring the woman behind him. "I'd like to take you to dinner, Mister Jones," she said, committing to her course.

"I…"

"He'd be glad to, Ms. Ferris," Diane said for him, giving her partner a little shove to get him moving.

* * *

"Is this a date, in the proper sense of the word?" John asked, watching the beautiful woman take another bite of her Cantonese.

"Yes."

"Why?"

Carol set her utensils down, an impish smile on her lips. "You intrigue me. And… I feel like we can get to know each other far better in person than over a phone."

"I might be quite the disappointment in person, Carol. I am… rather different, after all."

Carol shrugged. "I've met Hal's friends before. You don't get to preemptively prevent me from making up my own mind… unless you're just not interested." Now she searched his face, and was rewarded with a smile. 

"I don't think even I can be that self-sacrificing," he told her. "I wish to know you, Carol, and for you to know me."

"Good thing I cleared my calendar for a few days then."

* * *

Hal was perched on her desk when Carol walked into the office. His face was begging questions, but all she did was smirk.

"You might want to take a few lessons from the gentlemen among your friends, Flyboy," she told him, slaking his curiosity on one level, and firing off whole new questions on others. Questions he was not going to get to ask as she made a no-nonsense jerk of her thumb toward the flight line outside her window. "Get going, Jordan… but thanks, for introducing me to him."

"No problem, Carol!"


End file.
